Locomotive smoke box



June 13, 1933. c. n. BARRETT 1,913,530

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My invention relates to locomotive smoke boxes, and more particularly to an arrangement at the front endof a locomotivefor breaking up or cooling cinders, orother large particles accompanying the flue gases from the locomotive boiler, preparatory to the passage of the stack. y i i i Heretoforeit has been common practice the gases upward through to employ a netting as a spark arresterin the path of the flue gases as they-pass through the smoke box to the lift pipe or inner extension of thestaolnmAn example of sucha construction is shown in U. S.

" Letters Patent No. 1,653,537, granted to me December 20,1927. Incident to the useof a netting. of this character, there may result an accumulation of cinders in thebottom' of the smoke boxrequiring' periodic cleaning, the netting may become stopped up with cinders; or the wear on the netting maygbe'such as to. producer holes through which cinders are emitted. It has also been proposed to employ baflies attached to the sidesxof the smoke box in the path of the fine gases for breakingup large cinders and causing them to be deposited within a collectingchamberat the bottom of the smoke 7 box from which they must be periodically removed. f. i y r The principal object of the present invention. is to eliminate the above recited difliculties, and other disadvantages characteristic of the. spark arresting devices heretofore used or proposed, by the provision at the front end of a. locomotive of a centrifugal chamber having a restricted opening with means therein for imparting to the fluegases a highvelocity combined with a centrifugal motionsuch as to cause the breaking'up of motion to the fine gasesa. centrifugal chamber including deflector plates supported bechamber.

tween the-stack or stack extension and the exhaust nozzle and unattached to the sides of the smoke box, and hence not obstructing access .tothe smoke boxfor inspection of steam pipes, superheater units and the like.

Another object of the invention is totacilitatetl1e inspection and: repair ofparts withinthe. centrifugal chamber by the pro vision of removable deflector plates and of doors for Other .morespecific objects and advantages characterizin my present imention will become more fully apparent from the scription hereinafter of one example or enrbodimentof the invention, having reference to the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings: r

Fig. I represents a vertical sectional view ofa locomotive front end showing a smoke box arrangement of my invention.

Fig. II represents a front viewof the interior of the smoke box with certain parts broken away for clearness of illustration. 3 i Fig. III represents a cross section of the centrifugal chamber at the lower end of the lift pipe, taken as indicated by the lines III.-IIIOf Fig. II, showing the manner in which sections of the chamber may be swung open to give accessto the interior thereofx Fi IV represents a front View of a modified form of centrifugal chamber of my invention. V

gig. V represents a plan; view ofthe same; an r i Fig. VI represents a side elevation of the same with a portion broken away as indi cated by the lines VI-VI of Fig. V. i i

In the drawings, with particular reference to Figs. I and II, the'front end of the boiler barrel of a locomotive isdesignated at 1. With the exception of the smoke box, the front end of the boilerbarrel is of standard construction and includes therein the usual tube sheet 2, the latter supporting a plurality of fines or fire tubes 3 through which the products of combustion pass to the smoke box, and from thence to the atmosphere through the stack 4. At the top of permitting ready access to the the tube sheet 2, there is also shown the usual dry pipe 5, T connection 6 and superheater header 7 While for simplicity of illustration certain of the tubes, pipe connec tions, and other elements normally found within the rear part of the smoke box have been omitted from the drawings, it will be noted that ample space is provided for this equipment. To the lower end of the stack proper 4, there is attached a lift pipe or inner stack extension 8. An exhaust nozzle 9projects upwardly through the bottom of the smoke box directly beneath and centrally of the stack 1.

At the base of the lift pipe or inner stack extension 8, there is provided a blower ring casting 10 of well-known construction, and in the particular example of my invention which is illustrated in the drawings, the blower ring casting 10 has an annular horizontally extending plate 11, which serves as a support for a cylindrical hood 12. The hood 12 is preferably of a diameter such that its cross-sectional area isconsiderably larger than that of the stack 4 or its extension 8, but not so large as to interfere with the steam pipesl13 and 14., as shown in Fig; ILztat-the sides of the smoke box. The hood 12 extends downward from the blower ring casting 10 so that its base portion surrounds the exhaust nozzle 9 and forms with the saddle 15 at the bottom of the smoke box a vertically restricted opening for the passage of the flue gases. It is to be understood that the surrounding hood extends downward to the general vicinity of the top of the exhaust nozzle or below that point. The flue gases can only escape from the smoke box through the area between the base portion of the hood 12 and the saddle l5, and this area is such as to cause a draft of relatively high velocity.

As thus far described, the construction of the smoke box is substantially similar to that disclosed in my prior patent referred to above. In the present invention, however, the stand'16 of theexhaust nozzle 9 is provided on the outside with a formation having approximately helical recesses 17. lVithin the recesses 17 a plurality of dcflector plates in the form of vanes are fitted. Six such deflector plates 18 are shown in the front end chamber of Figs. 1, II and III, and they are so formed and disposed with relation to each other as to impart a centrifugal motion to the gases passing into the interior of the hood 12. The deflector plates 18 are confined to the lower part of the hood 12 so that the hood defines a'cylindrical chamber which is unobstructed throughout the major portion of its length.

The hood 12, which is concentric with the stack 1 and the exhaust nozzle 9, comprises a plurality of hinged upper sections 19 and a similar number of lower sections 20. The

upper sections 19, each one of which forms a quadrant of a circle, are assembled together by means of hinges 21 having removable pins 22 which permit the sections either to be swung outward or to be completely disassembled, as shown in Fig. III. At their top flanges 23 the upper sections 19 of the hood are supported on the horizontally extending plate 11 beneath the blower ring casting 10, and they are secured in position by means of perforated lugs 24 and wedge pieces 25. In an obvious manner, as illustrated in Fig. HI, each upper section may be swung about a pair of hinges 21 to permit access to the exhaust nozzle 9 for purposes of inspection or repair. The lower sections 20 are of similar arcuate form and are joined together by hinges 26 disposed beneath and in line with the hinges 21 of the upper sections and having removable pins 27. Preferably the upper sections 19 are provided at their bottom edges with outwardly and downwardly extending rims 28 which overlap the top edges of the lower sections.

Each lower section 20 of the hood 12 has in the wall thereof a number of rectangular openings 29 through which fastening lugs 30 on the deflector plates 18 are adapted to pass. are thus removably fitted within the helical recesses 17 of the exhaust stand at their inner edges, and at their outer edges they are detachably fastened to the lower sections, 20 of the hood by means of the lugs 30 and wedge pieces 31 inserted therethrough. To gain access to the interior of the hood 12, the upper sections 19 may be used as swinging doors. To gain access to the deflector plates 18, the lower sections 20 may be swung outward or bodily removed by withdrawing the hinge pins 27, after first removing the wedge pieces 31. Vith the lower sections 20 removed or swung outward, the deflector plates or vanes 18 may be readily withdrawn for repair or replacement.

The operation of the smoke box of my invention is as follows: The gases of combustion from the flues or fire tubes 3 are caused to pass through the restricted opening between the hood 12 and the bottom of the smoke box and from thence upward around the exhaust nozzle 9 which when in operation causes an induced draft of high velocity through the lift pipe 8 and stack 1-. Incident to the passage of the gases through the deflector plates 18, a centrifugal motion is imparted to the gases which causes cinders or other particles accompanying the gases to be thrown laterally against the inside surface of the hood 12. The cinders are thrown with such force as to cause them to be broken up into fine particles upon impact with the walls of the hood 12, or they The deflector plates 18 are retarded long-enoughwithinthe chamber to permit their being cooled befores qection through the stackM'sThe larger portion self-cleaning,

I by providing ajhood of considerably larger. diameter than the lift pipe 8,'it is-assured of p the cinders pass throughithe: deflector plates 18 and are broken up within the hood from whenoe they are expelled as. fine particles through the stack. Thus the smoke 'box. of this invention is substantially that is to 1 say, though' there may bei some c accumulation of cinders in pockets at the bottom of-the thesmoke box, or a thin layer acrosswthevfloor thereof, the cinders will not pile up to the level of the lowermost fines, even 'over a long period of use Such matter ascollectsuncthe bottom of the smoke box need onlybe cleaned out over a long period of time."- With the cinders reduced to fine particles by; impact with the hood 12, theuse of theusual net-j ting may be dispensed with Furthermore,

that'the large cinders will impinge upon the walls of the hood before being expelled, throughthestack 4;. I i

In Figs. IV, V and VLwherein a medi fied form of front end chamber isillus trated,there is shown a cylindrical hood 12a boltedto the horizontally extending} plate ll-of the blower ring casting 10; Thehood 12a comprises interfitting upper sections 32,

32a and a lower section 33 to which deflector plates 18a of a somewhatdilferent form from the previously described deflector plates 18 are attached. The upper sections 32,.32a are of arcuate shape and overlap each other to form a complete cylinder of considerably larger diameter than that of the stack extension 8. Each upper hood section 32, 32a is securedto the horizontally extending top 34 of the hood by means of blocks 35 and screws 36, the latter ternarnating in slotted ends through which wedge pieces 37 areinserted. At the frontseo tion 32a of the hood 12a, there is a rectangular opening 38 which is normally closed by a removable door 39. To hold the door 39 in place, lugs 40 integral with the front section 32a are provided for thebottom edge of the door, and additionaldetachable lugs 41 are provided for the top edge of the door. The detachable lugs 4:1 fit over the two screws 36, which pass through the front section 32a, and are secured in' place by the corresponding wedge pieces 37. a 7

At their bottom edges the upper hood sections 32, 32a overlap the lower hood section and are fastened to the latter by means of slotted bolts 42 and cotter pins 43. In

1 this example of the invention, the deflector plates 18a are substantially flat and larger in number. They are removably fitted with in recesses 14 of the exhaust stand and are so arranged as to impart centrifugal motion to theflue gases passing into the front end claime I I a 1.;In alocomotive smoke box, a. stack, an

jor portion of its length,

chamber. Theexhaustnozzle 9a is generally similar to thepreviously described exhaust nozzle 9 and projects upward" above thevouter ends of the deflector plates 18a.

In the example of the front end chamber shown in Figs. IV, V and VI, the pockets 45 at the bottom of the smoke box adjacent to the exhaust nozzle arecovered by a flat plate 46 or false bottom which extends from one side of the, smoke box to the other and assures. that cinders willnot collect in the pockets. The velocity ofthe flue gases passingthrough the restricted opening between thelflat plate or false bottom 4-6jand lower section 33of theihood 12a causes the cinders to be swept without obstruction into the spacesbetween the deflector plates 18a and from thence into the front end chamber de' fined by the hood. The operation of this front end chamber is similarto the operation which has beenpreviously described. a

It will be particularly noted that in both --of the herein described examples of my ins vention, the front end chamber and the means for imparting centr fugal motion to p the gases passing therein are supported en- [tirely between the lnner s'tackextension 8 and the exhaust nozzle 9, and thatno plates or-Iother members obstruct the surrounding Spaces between the front end a, chamber and the sides of the smoke box.

lVhilejI have described two examples of "a smokebox contemplated by this invention,

it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the particular form and. disposi- 9 tion of the parts thereof without departing from ,the spirit of my invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

exhaust'nozzle beneath said stack, a hood extending downward from said stack to box, a stack, an

said gases are thrown. against chamber unobstructed throughout the maand deflectors mounted on and projecting outward from said exhaust nozzle at the bottom of the smoke box for imparting centrifugal motion to the flue gases passing upward toward the stack, whereby cinders or the like accom- Ipangl ing said gases are thrown against said o0 Y 3; In a locomotive'smoke box, a stack, an exhaust nozzle beneath said stack, a hood extending downwa-rd from said stack with its base portion surrounding said exhaust nozzle, said hood defining a chamber unobstructedthroughout the major portion of its length and having a door at the front thereof, and means extending across the space between said exhaust nozzle and hood at the bottom of the smoke box for imparting centrifugal motion to the flue gases passing through saidspace. I

4. In a locomotive smoke box, a stack, an exhaust nozzle beneath said stack, a hood extending downward from said stack and supported thereon with its base portion surrounding said exhaust nozzle, said hood comprising a plurality of detachable sections which may be independently removed to give access to said exhaust nozzle, and vanes extending across the space between said exhaust'nozzle and hood for imparting centrifugal motion to the flue gases passing through said space, said vanes being removably fitted to the outside of said exhaust nozzle and to said hood, whereby a vane may be replaced without removal of the entire hood.

5. In a. locomotive smoke box, a stack, an exhaust nozzle beneath said stack, a hood extending downward from said stack and surrounding said nozzle, the bottom of said hood forming with the bottom of the smoke box a" restrictedopening for the passage of line gases into the hood, and means disposed within said opening for imparting centrifugal motion to the gases passing therethrough, whereby cinders or the like accompanying said gases are thrown against said hood, the opening aforesaid being so restricted vertically as to impart to the flue gases a velocity sulficient to prevent any substantial accumulation of cinders within the smoke box.

6. In a locomotive smoke box, a stack, an exhaust nozzle beneath said stack, a hood extending downward from said stack and sur- I rounding said nozzle, the bottom of said hood forming, with the bottom of the smoke box, a restricted'opening for the passage of flue gases into the hood, and deflectors extending across said openin from the 7 exhaust nozzle to the hood anc serving to impart centrifugal motion to the gases passing therethrough, whereby cinders or the like accompanying said gases are thrown against said hood, the opening aforesaid being so restricted vertically as to impart to the flue gases a velocity sufficient to prevent any substantial accumulation of cinders within the smoke box.

7. In a locomotive smoke box, a stack, an exhaust nozzle disposed centrally beneath said stack, a hood concentric with said stack and extending downward therefrom with its base portion surrounding said exhaust nozzle and forming a vertically restricted opening at the bottom of the smoke box for the passage of flue gases into the hood, and

means disposed within said opening beneath box for thepassage of flue gases into the hood, said hoodhaving a cross sectional area considerably larger than the cross sectional area of said stack, and means disposed within vsaid restricted opening beneath the top of the exhaust nozzle and remote from the bottom of the stack for imparting centrifugal motion to the flue gases, whereby cinders or the like accompanying said gases are thrown, against s'aid f hood and there retarded before admission to the stack.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Altoona, Pennsylvania, this. 31st day of December, 1931.

CHARLES D. BARRETT. 

